Mason:

The way Bo Ryan’s teams work, there is never one guy held more accountable than another. True, there have been players like Alando Tucker who seem to touch the ball more than others. But with the swing offense, every piece of the puzzle is equally important.

That’s not to say, however, that any player is exempt from pre-season pressure. With Brian Butch, Michael Flowers and Greg Stiemsma all gone from last year’s squad, which group will be feeling that pressure more, the big men or the guards?

Based on who they lost — and who they currently have — it’s got to be the big men.

Take away Butch and Stiemsma’s numbers from a year ago, and what do you lose? Well for starters, you’re without Butch’s team-leading 12.4 points per game. You’ll also be missing Stiemsma’s 40 blocked shots — also a team best. (Oh yeah, Butch was second with 29.)

The towering duo also accumulated a combined 345 rebounds. Again Butch led the team in this category — bringing down 237 boards at a clip of 6.6 per game.

Both stand at 6 feet 11 inches. The only two current Badgers at that height or more are the towel-waving J.P. Gavinski (6-foot-11) and freshman 7-footer Ian Markolf. They have a combined 15 career minutes between them — all of those, of course, belonging to Gavinski.

Guard presence, on the other hand, is essentially in place from last year. Yes, Bo lost a lock-down defender in Flowers. But Trevon Hughes and Jason Bohannon established themselves as scoring threats a year ago. Now as upperclassmen, they’ll be feeling more pressure. But not as much as the big men, who have two voids to fill and not much experience to fill it with.

The Polar Bear and the Stiemsmaniac are gone. Pressure’s on J.P. the Giant and his towel.

Zetlin:

You love numbers, don’t you, Mason? You should stop going for that journalism degree and start majoring in statistics.

You’re right about one thing, but you need to forget the numbers. Butch and Stiemsma will be sorely missed, not necessarily because they were so dominant on the blocks, but because their replacements have about as much experience as you and I do, Mase. Meaning it’s unfair to expect too much from anyone who camps in the red paint this season.

As juniors, leaders and upperclassmen of the team, the pressure has got to be on Hughes and Bohannon. Yes, each did establish himself as a legitimate scorer last season, but much of that was because of the presence of the big boys down low. Now, without those same contributions, both guards will have to do more for the Badgers to succeed.

At times, Hughes was masterful; other times, he simply looked lost. He’ll need to be consistent for this team to excel in Big Ten play.

One thing we also know is J-Bo can hit the three. At times last year, he showed glimpses of being able to penetrate and convert near the hoop as well. Without the Polar Bear and “Stiemsmaniac,” as you call him, Bohannon won’t be able to camp out behind the arc as much. Knowing he’s the team’s sharpshooter, other teams will force him to dribble drive, and he’ll have to be more than one-dimensional to be effective.

I won’t even mention the defense without Flowers; you did it for me. Thanks, bud.

The little guys are all grown up. Pressure’s on the guards to guard that conference title.